A man (would not give his name) argues against building a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., with a supporter of the mosque after a peace rally in public square August 30, 2010. The rally was held a few days after an arsonist set fire to construction equipment being used to clear land for the new Islamic Center.

By Bob Smietana The Tennessean

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.  My God is better than your God.

That's the dispute at the heart of recent hearings in a lawsuit aimed at derailing the new Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. What started as a zoning issue has turned into a fight over theology and the role of government in recognizing religion.

Mosque opponents say that Islam is not a real religion. They argued in a Rutherford County courthouse last week that the world's second-largest faith, with its 1.6 billion followers, is actually a political movement.

Opponents say local Muslims want to replace the Constitution with an Islamic legal code called Shariah law.

Joe Brandon Jr., a Smyrna,, Tenn., lawyer representing a group of mosque opponents, argued that the proposed mosque is not a house of worship. He said the Rutherford County Planning Commission erred when it approved the mosque.

Brandon wants an injunction stopping the mosque.

"Shariah law is pure sedition," said Brandon in his opening statement Monday.

Local officials said that of course Islam is a religion. They say the proposed mosque is like any other house of worship. Constitutional scholars say it isn't the government's business to decide which faiths are legitimate and which are not.

Local Muslims say the claim about Shariah law and political conspiracies is nonsense.

"I have been a Muslim all my life, and I've never heard about Shariah law," said Lema Sbentaty, a Middle Tennessee State University student who attended part of the hearings last week. "If this was true, who would want to be a Muslim?"

Disputes over which faiths are legitimate and which aren't have a long history in America. Leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony banished Roger Williams in 1635 when they deemed his Baptist preaching heretical.

In the 19th century, Catholics and Mormons were accused of being un-American. In 1844 a riot broke out in Philadelphia between Catholics and Protestants over Bible readings in public schools. More recently, newer faiths such as Scientology have been accused of being fake religions.

"There are all kinds of fights over what is a religion and what isn't," said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center. "Islam is not one of them."

For the most part, he said courts and government officials steer clear of trying to define religion.

However, because the Internal Revenue Service gives tax exemptions to religious groups, the federal agency a list of about a dozen factors that define a religion. Those include having creeds and worship services, having ordained clergy of some kind, and having a distinct religious history and sacred literature.

Islam fits those criteria, said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, a conservative religious liberty group.

Whitehead said the Constitution prohibits government officials and courts from evaluating which beliefs are valid and which aren't.

Instead, he said, they can only look at a person's behavior to see whether those beliefs are sincere.

"I can guarantee you if they go to people who are Muslim, their beliefs will be very sincere," Whitehead said.

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